Phazon Revival
by xXThunderflameXx
Summary: Planet Phaaze, the source of all Phazon, did not form naturally. It was created, deliberately by a sentient entity. Now, its creator is experimenting with Phazon once again, experiments that bode poorly for the Universe, and it's up to Samus to stop them.
1. New mission

Samus was laying, in her blue jump-suit, on her cot in the resort on Dallus 5. The planet had this flourescent compound in its atmosphere, which gave its sunsets a lovely violet hue. The entire planet had been terraformed, turning the Mars-esque wasteland into a paradise. Samus had prevented the sabotage of one of the atmosphere regulators keeping the planet alive, saving millions of lives and dollars. Samus couldn't call herself a 'heroine', mainly because she was paid for her work, but she didn't complain as the _Amazon _Resort Corporation granted her an unlimited amount of vacation days on the planet. There were definite perks to saving the Universe for a living.

"Attention Samus Aran, there is a message for you." The message was stated in a slow, peaceful tone over the speakers, as to not disturb anyone else in hearing distance. Samus sighed, got out of the cot, glanced one final time at the violet sunset, and walked back, past the pool, to the large metal-plastic condo.

* * *

General Dianna would be 53 years old in the next month, though she hadn't shown her age in the least. The brown-haired woman had a distinct muscle tone, and there wasn't a wrinkle on her face. There were a few small scars, though – one did not get promoted to General by playing it safe.

"Dallus 5. I heard about that incident. That really was impressive work, recovering that detonator," Dianna remarked.

"Thank you. It was not easy," Samus replied, "I find it unlikely _you_ called just for small-talk."

"You are correct," Dianna stated, "We've found a pirate base on a planet in your vicinity. It seems pretty small-time, so it really shouldn't be a problem, but you are the closest person there."

"Okay, I'll check it out... and probably blow it up," Samus agreed. Dianna pressed a few buttons on a computer terminal. The image of the general distorted.

"What haven't you told me yet?" Samus asked. The encryption the general was now using was so advanced, it was hard to decipher even if you had the key. Dianna wanted to make sure no one was going to overhear this next part.

"The base is giving off some kind of energy reading," Dianna stated, "It kind of resembled Phaazon."

"Phaazon? That pain in the butt? I'll get there ASAP," Samus replied, "And then I'm blowing the damn base up."


	2. Ambush

_-Telemetry set. Take-off initiated-_ Samus' ship, the _Spear_, reported. The slimmer version of the ship seen in the game _Corruption_ lifted off the surface of Dallus 5, and ascended into the starry sky.

Once cleared of the artificial atmosphere, the ship engaged its Akaci engine, and laughed as it passed light beams not riding the wave of a warp bubble. The pirate outpost was only 10 light-years away, so Samus should have gotten there in 5 minutes.

Predictably, there was an unexpected delay. This particular delay came in the form of a jolt to the ship, disengaging the warp field and slowing the _Spear_ to sub-c speeds. Samus immediately engaged the ship's Hull-Integrity-Augmentation-Field, an energy field which would prevent any damage to the ship until it was depleted. The _Spear's_ navigation systems could navigate an asteroid belt at over 200 kc; the only reason it would go 'bump' was because of a deliberate attack.

Samus glanced at her monitor. There were six ships, all Pirate construction. One of the ships opened a hailing frequency. Samus opened the link, and the face of our favorite space dragon appeared on-screen.

"Ridley," Samus groaned, "How many times do I have to kill you before you die?"

"Such cheek, Samus. What happened to the little girl that hugged my leg?" Ridley asked.

"You succeeded in killing her. And thus _I_ was born," Samus replied, "Why the hell are you hailing me, anyway?"

"To tell you that, if I am responsible for our defeats at your hands, I will be responsible for your defeat. You are going to die," Ridley said, "To illustrate this, we are going to sit still for one minute. No evasive action, no return fire. We'll disengage your warp field if you try to run, but otherwise, it will be just one minute of you trying to attack."

"Ah... if you insist..." Samus replied, somewhat puzzled. She didn't know what Ridley had up his sleeve, but she did trust that the pirates wanted her dead. If they were going to give her a head-start, she would be crazy not to take advantage of it. Samus targeted Ridley's ship, and watched as a missle flew towards the craft.

The missile exploded short of its target. _No. It's... it's not possible..._ Samus thought. She targeted another ship, and fired a photo-vortex pulse. Once again, the target was defended; the PVP was simply reflected off by an invisible wall. A force field.

Star Trek-style shielding was impossible with the force-field technology she knew. Force-field generators emitted a peculiar wave, which would disrupt any force fields completely surrounded. Furthermore, no force-field she knew of could reflect a PVP like that. This was remarkable new technology. Too bad it was in Pirate hands.

Samus engaged the ship's scanners, trying to figure out what exactly she was up against – specifically, what kind of weak points it had. The following was the ships report on Ridley's craft:

_Andromeda Class pirate ship. Mass: 2000 kilograms, maximal carrying capacity: 50 individuals. Armed with three disruptor beams and a missile launcher._

_Blah, blah, blah_, Samus thought. She was already familiar with Andromeda class ships. It was this next part which was of interest to her.

_The spacetime around the ship has been warped, forming a repulsive field, capable of resisting up to 5.9x1024 kilotons._

It was hardly hand-holding. Akaci engines worked by bending space into a warp bubble – given a week, she was sure a group of scientists would be able to modify the drive to disrupt the pirate shield. Samus, though quite intelligent, was not a scientist, and she didn't have a week.

She was able to conceive another option.

"Ship, I need you to do a little calculus. First off, does the Nebula-class ship to our left have the same shield strength as Ridley's Andromeda-class?" Samus asked. _Negative,_ the ship's computer replied.

"Good. Now, how fast would one of our missiles have to be going to penetrate that ship's shield?" Samus asked. _64.8 thousand times the speed of light, assuming the rockets are being fired_ was displayed on a terminal.

"Okay. I need you to make some modifications to the missiles..." Samus instructed.

Five seconds later, the _Spear_ engaged its Akaci drive. Unwilling to allow his prey to escape, Ridley fired upon Samus' craft, which would ordinarily disrupt any warp field around the craft and return it to below-c speeds. Unfortunately for the Nebula-class ship, the _Spear_ hadn't used its warp drive on itself – instead, the generated warp bubble propelled the missile to 64.8 thousand times the speed of light. The missile slowed down outside the ship, nearly stopping. It didn't stop, though, and if things had worked the way Samus wanted them to, it would have kept on going, strait into the Nebula-class ship.

Things didn't work the way Samus had wanted them to. The shield became black where the missile penetrated, absorbing its kinetic energy. The ship then fired a black burst at the missile, leading to its destruction.

The minute was up. The six crafts began firing several black pulses at the _Spear_, a capability the scanners had obviously neglected to mention. Samus watched as the first of the six energy tanks connected to the _Spear_'s HIAF depleted.

"Evasive action!" Samus shouted.

_I am trying. The sublight engines are responding, but do not appear to be having any effect,_ The _Spear_'s computer replied. At that point, the first energy tank lost the last of its power, and the second kicked in. Samus frantically considered her options, while watching the second tank drop at a steady pace of 60 capacity per minute.

In eight minutes, 20 seconds, the last energy tank was depleted. The HIAF failed, and the _Spear_ began to take damage. Sparks flew, sirens blared, lights flickered and failed. A green sphere expanded outside Samus' ship, dissolved, and left behind a blue, arrowhead-shaped ship.

Apparently undettered by the newcommer, the pirate ships continued firing upon the _Spear_. They were deterred, however, by the fact that their shots were being absorbed. The pirates then turned and fired upon the new ship, which was similarly protected. The new ship began firing upon the pirates, using what appeared to be cyan versions of the pirate shots. This ship was clearly superior to the pirate crafts; the pirates had loosed dozens of shots at the newcommer, while it had needed only five to disable the pirate shields.

It seemed Samus had been saved by the bell. She was fully aware that falling asleep while sustaining severe injury was dangerous, but it seemed unlikely that her rescuers would spend such efforts defending her and not get her medical attention. Thus, she gave in to the sensation of tiredness within her, and drifted into sleep with few qualms.


	3. Travelers

**Wow, it's been some time since I updated this. **_Spore_** is too addictive. **

* * *

Samus was, at all times, either fully asleep or fully awake. Now was no exception. The second her body decided it had rested long enough, it bent itself at the waist. Her eyes were already open, gathering information on her current situation.

The first tidbit of information Samus observed was of her Power Suit – a complete lack of it. She dwelt on this very briefly; then she remembered she hadn't been wearing it when she went unconsious. Her blue jumpsuit had been replaced by an indigo medical robe; this, too, was easily explainable, considering the injuries she sustained during the pirate confrontation. Whoever had worked on her had done a great job – not only did she not feel hurt, she felt better than she had in a long time.

Samus turned her attention away from herself, and moved onto the room she occupied. It was dark, but not aphotic. She could make out the basic shape of the room: cubical, perhaps 8-foot per side. There were several pieces of medical equipment around her – presumably this was where she had been treated.

Her metal cot was facing a window. She could make out several stars, all streaming by like ticker tape. So they hadn't waited to get her on solid ground before healing her; she was still on a starship. It was likely that this ship was the one that rescued her – but, there was no way of knowing for sure.

A door opened behind her, casting a stream of light into the room. Samus turned around, to see the silloette of a young, likely human woman, possibly one in her teens.

"You're up," The woman stated, "Raise lights, 80"

The room executed the command. It was a gradual change, preventing stress on either woman's eyes, allowing Samus a better view of her visitor. The definitely pre-20-year-old woman was tall, rather fit, and had shoulder-length, strait brown hair. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she wasn't ugly either. She wore a white suit of some slightly glossy material Samus couldn't identify, and the red snake staff on the suit's chest made it clear that the woman was involved in medicine. Considering her age, Samus would have guessed she was a nurse, but surrounding the red emblem were five golden stars. If those stars were a symbol of rank...

"I suppose you have a few questions," The woman remarked, "You are onboard the TSS Generator. We're from... another part of the Universe, though yes, we are human, close enough to your DNA to call us the same species. My name is Catherine Quan, the chief medical officer on this ship."

"Catherine. It's always nice to know names," Samus remarked, "I must say, you look a little young to be a doctor."

"I've been practicing since... ever since I can remember, really. I've gotten good at medicine," Cathy replied, "But, perhaps we should talk about you. 150 cm2 covered in 2nd degree burns, a relatively minor cuncussion, and a fracture in your left humerus. Perhaps not in need of ER care, but you are the guest of honor."

"So this is the Emergency Room," Samus said, "Okay, you said I sustained a bone fracture. How long until it's healed?" She was familiar with a Federation polymer that could heal bones in a matter of days. It would be interesting to see how the medicine of these people compared.

"Actually, the bone is already strong enough for light activity," Cathy replied, "It will still be an hour until I let you do more strenuous exercises."

"_Let me?_" Samus remarked, "You don't know me very well, do you?"

"Actually, bounty hunter Samus Aran, I do," Cathy replied, "You're why we're here."

* * *

**The TSS Generator is actually from my own, original fictional universe. This isn't their first appearance - I'm actually working on a novel for them, and they have appeared in other fanfics. So, this is a cross-over, just one with my own, original characters.**


	4. reassignment

****

It took a moment for Samus Aran's laughter to settle enough for her to form coherent speech.

_"He's _your captain!?" Samus scoffed, "He's what, _twelve!?_"

"It would be exceedingly foolish to compare me to a normal child. I was created through bioengineering, made to have super-human intelligence. Despite the relatively short duration of my life – 14 years, by the way – I am more than capable of commanding this ship," Captain Alexander Thunderstorm calmly replied. The boy stood around one and a half meters tall, the top a thick mass of an unnaturally yellow hair. His eyes were a similar color, and it gave him an almost inhuman quality. The confident expression Alex gave Samus almost spoke for his competence by itself; it was as if he were daring her to compare him to any human, let alone a child. The fifty persons making up the crew of the Generator called the expression Alex's 'Diplomatic stare', a face that, throughout the dozens of species and cultures he had seen, had served him exceedingly well.

"Okay, I… think I understand," Samus said, "So… ah, Cathy… Cathy said that you guys came here because of me. What, then, do you need me for?"

"We came here for the same reason almost everyone else – besides pirates – seeks you out," Alex answered, "We wish to hire you."

"Of course," Samus replied, "Who needs beating up?"

"Our version of the Space pirates," Alex said, "They are experimenting with phazon."

"And you need me to stop them, because my exposure five years ago gave me a resistance," Samus reasoned.

"I tried several variations of protection from Phazon radiation. All the simulations failed," Alex said, "I'm beginning to think there is no way to block it."

"And I was on another mission before I was attacked..."

"We were already aware of the pirate lab," Alex replied, "It's no longer a problem."

"I see. Well, I do loathe that stuff, but Hunters never never work for free," Samus remarked, "Or were you thinking that saving my life would be an apt payment."

Alex caught the hint.

"I was wondering if you would think that. It is a logical conclusion; you have no reason to trust me," Alex responded, "Samus, I do not know how your Space Pirates got a hold of our technologies. I was not counting on it. No, I had prepared a payment for you before hand, and you will still receive it."

* * *

Samus finished putting on the last plate of her suit. It was markedly different now. This suit was, for the most part, a light orange, with sections of the original hue scattered asymmetrically. The wide, v-shaped viewing window, originally green, was now a robin's egg blue, and was more transparent. The entire suit was now more form fitting, and decidedly more feminine than the Varia suit. The helmet had an opening at the back of the neck, allowing Samus' blond hair to topple onto her shoulders. Samus looked at herself in a mirror within the large, currently barren laboratory Alex had led her to.

"It's stylish, I'll admit," Samus said, "But I think you're smart enough to realize that I'm looking for more than aesthetic changes."

"You won't be disappointed," Alex replied, "Begin training sequence."

Four metal, tennis-ball-sized spheres lifted off the metal-tile floor of the lab, and began flying around wildly. One fired a red energy pulse at Samus. She backflipped out of the pulse's path, surprising even herself with the agility displayed. The spheres continued firing, and Samus took to the offence, and fired four thin, blue beams at the drones. The beams made contact, and the spheres dropped to the floor.

"Your 'Chozo' were excellent engineers," Alex remarked, "However, I was able to make a few improvements to even their work. I have added artificial muscles to enhance your own athleticism. Your 'Power Beams' I have removed – you now posses an… you could call it an energy beam, though this isn't entirely accurate… capable of incapacitating opponents, and Relative torpedoes; pulses effective against solid structures and force fields.

"The suit now possessed an artificial intelligence," Alex continued, "It's designed to work with your own mind, directing the muscles to perform athletic feats. You will also find it an exceptional auto target."

"And the _Pièce de résistance_," Alex finished, holding what looked like an old electrical fuse in his hand, "This is a cloaking device, capable of bending light in such a way that it completely conceals your image. It draws power from your weapons systems, so you can't shoot while cloaked, but I believe this will prove invaluable to you none the less."

Samus reached for the fuse. Alex backed his hand away.

"This is my true payment for you," Alex stated, "The cloaking device is yours _after_ you complete my mission. Is that acceptable to you."

Samus stuck out her armored hand, "You've got a deal, _Captain_."

Alex grabbed Samus' hand, and they shook.

* * *

Author's note: I have no idea why this chapter was in bold font. Has this happened to other people?


	5. Implantment

**Wow, I haven't updated this in forever. I'll try to get better at that. **

**Just a warning, there is a cuss word in this chapter.**

* * *

A large, white sphere appeared in a small, iron oxide-colored cave. The sphere lasted for a matter of seconds, and then contracted into nothingness, leaving Samus Aran in its place.

Map, please, Samus thought. Alex had introduced her to the AI within her suit, a sentient computer Alex usually wore on his own wrist. He had explained that the computer, called COSE, possessed living cells within in its mechanical structure – the interaction between life and machine allowed him to modify parts of himself into various tools. Alex had allowed Samus to borrow COSE, to have them bound through a mental link. It was creepy at first, to have another consciousness brush against her own, but she quickly came to like COSE , as to her surprise, the machine had a sense of humor.

COSE, upon receiving Samus' request, commanded her suit's visor to display two maps, one for each eye to form a 3-dimensional image, of her location. Through COSE, Samus zoomed and rotated the map to best suit her needs.

"Okay, take a left out of the maze, a right into the hall, jam teleport station, turn around, strait, right, right, left, strait, left into the Auxiliary Computer B control bay gamma," Samus said out loud. She closed the map, and proceeded out of the cave and into a hallway; 2 meters wide and three meters high. In this hallway stood what Samus assumed to be a pirate, which looked something like a terrestrial squid, which flashed red and yellow upon seeing Samus. It was about to press a device on one of its tentacle-arms, but Samus aimed her right arm at it, and watched as COSE fired an azure energy pulse – Alex had said it was a new kind of mater, 'quantazon' – knocking the cephalopod out cold. She had been warned that most 'Combatant Augmentation Technology' suits possessed quantazon buffers, and thus would take multiple hits to take down. This pirate, however, had been KO'ed immediately.

_Well that was easy enough_, Samus thought.

_Don't get cocky,_ COSE warned, _These pirates aren't stupid, nor are they unprepared. Their security is just a little more sophisticated than giving everyone a gun and telling them to shoot._

_Hey, I wasn't about to let my guard down_, Samus replied, _It's just that, in my Universe, every pirate you see means a battle, and it's nice just to shoot once and be done with it._

_Ah_, COSE chirped, _Then by all means, savor this change._

There was a door to the right of Samus, divided into a left, right, and top section and curved towards her. She almost fired another quantazon beam at the door, but then remembered that it lacked a force field. She instead walked up to the door, and tapped the wall to the left of it twice. The three sections of the door slid into the wall, and Samus stepped into a closet-sized, spherical room.

Now for a little fun myself. Aim me at that console, if you don't mind, COSE requested. Samus complied, pointing her right arm at a yellow-lit panel near the door she entered through, and COSE fired a blue quantazon pulse at it. Similarly blue sparks began to play around the console, and the yellow lights of the panel also began to flicker with an azure glow.

_Wait for it, wait… and… ha_! COSE 'said'. The sparks and blue flicker disappeared, and the panel now fully exhibited a yellow glow.

_And down goes the pirate teleportation network,_ COSE stated, _They'll probably figure out that it's deliberate sabotage, but when they do we'll have already uploaded our virus into Auxiliary Computer B._

Having done her job at the teleport station, Samus tapped to the left of the door again, and stepped into the metal hallway. She proceeded down the hall, through a few turns, to the doors of a computer control room, this door planar. In contrast to the teleport station, this room required the input of a numerical pass-code into an adjacent keypad; COSE, however, was able to simply fire a quantazon beam at the keypad, opening the door.

Samus saw what appeared to be an anthropomorphic cat seated at the computer console in the room, typing furiously. She also saw a security feed on one of the displays, showing herself at the door. To her surprise, she felt her suit automatically aim at the feline, and watched as COSE fired a quantazon pulse at him. The cat was, like the squid, instantly knocked out.

_Our fault_, COSE said, _We should have warned you that our pirates come in more than one species. It's best to assume everyone here is a threat._

Samus pushed the cat out of the chair, and sat down herself. It seemed COSE was right; the guy had accessed the computer that controlled the teleport station, and was trying to purge the virus they had uploaded.

How did he respond that quickly? COSE wondered, Did we set off some kind of alarm when we entered the facility?

Under COSE's instructions, Samus undid the pirate's countermeasures against the sabotage. She then pressed a series of buttons on her right arm, preparing to release another virus from her suit.

Not yet! COSE said, The virus will die if you let it out now.

Alex had explained to Samus that the virus he had stored within her suit wasn't just a computer program, but a life-form, composed of the same quantazon her stun beam used. It still felt strange to think of a computer virus dying.

The security of this computer is more sophisticated than that of the teleporters. It has the ability to kill quantazon-based viruses, COSE explained, We've got to disrupt that ability before we release the virus. Now, click on that icon.

And thus Samus began one of the least action-packed parts of her mission. Through her, COSE began to worm through the security of Auxiliary Computer B. At first, the computer offered little resistance. As Samus worked her way into more delicate aspects of the computer's security, it began to become somewhat more stubborn. As Samus was about to input the final command needed to insert the virus, it made an unprecedented jump, and threw up a prompt for a 12-character password.

Um, password, please? Samus asked. The computer had asked for a few passwords in the past - then, COSE had told her what they were before she needed them. Obviously, this time was different.

This encryption is way more advanced than the others. I can't figure it out, COSE reported, We're going to need… I wonder if he'd know it.

Samus glanced at the cat-person kissing the floor.

Him. Okay, Samus thought, How do we wake him up?

I've already made an un-stun beam. It will wake him up, paralyze him, and I added a little extra treat, COSE answered, Just shoot him again.

Samus held her right arm to the cat furry, and COSE fired an azure beam at him. The cat's eyes began to flicker open.

"Hi," Samus chirped, once the anthro was fully awake, "We need something from you."

"Go to hell," The cat spat. Samus rocked her head back and forth.

"Now, let's make this easier for the both of us," Samus replied. The cat laughed.

"How could you make this hard for me?" The cat scoffed, "I'm sure Alexander Thunderstorm has already told you that my death would be unacceptable."

They knew we were sending you COSE thought We must be cautious, Samus. Even if they haven't anticipated our tactics, they must have something up their sleeves.

"He told me," Samus replied to the pirate. She pressed a button on her left wrist, freeing the suit's glove. She then took off her helmet.

You know, you can leave that on, COSE stated, It's not going to get in the way – the visor could actually help.

I know, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. Thought I'd have a little fun, Samus replied. She knelt down beside the paralyzed pirate, and began stroking him.

"I take it you don't know much about Raekan biology," The pirate stated, "You can't seduce me into helping me."

"I see," Samus replied, "Luckily, that wasn't the plan."

"Then what are… Ah!" The Raekan yelped Samus was holding one of the navy-blue strands of fur from the pirate's neck.

"That's your plan?" The pirate scoffed, "You're going to torture me, by plucking my hair out?"

"Yep," Samus chirped. She then removed another strand of fur.

"And you really think I would get the command codes – I assume that… ah!... is what you're after – if such measures would work on me?" The Raekan asked.

"Probably not," COSE replied, through a pair of built-in speakers, "But tell me, have you found your concentration waning ever sense we woke you?"

"A truth ray," The Raekan spat, "You bastard."

"Now, that was uncalled for," COSE remarked, "You don't say that to people without a mommy."

"Luckilly you're not a person, you fucking bracelet," The pirate replied. Samus felt her suit once again move on its own, aiming COSE to allow him to fire a red beam at the pirate. The pirate shouted in agony, and to Samus' horror, the scream raised sharply in pitch to an ear-piercing shriek.

"Even I can tire of playing games," COSE stated, "The password to access security sub-application S-503."

"I-WILL-NOT-COM…" The words obviously came hard for the pirate as he continued to shriek. Thankfully for him, COSE interrupted.

"5. 8. G. 7," COSE began. The computer then listed off the next 8 characters of the command code he needed, and then fired a more characteristic azure beam at the pirate. The feline's scream subsided, and was replaced by crying.

_Here I thought your reality was devoid of cruelty_, Samus thought, I was just getting used to killing being taboo, and now I learn you can torture.

_Oh, there are regulations against thought extraction, too_, COSE admitted, _I'll be getting a big slap on the wrist for 'not giving prisoners 24-hours notice._

* * *

A fugure in a dark room, wearing what looked suspiciously like Samus Aran's old Phazon suit, looked at a holographic screen, which displayed the true Samus working at Control Bay Gamma. The Samus doppelganger pressed a button on his suit. This opened a second holographic window, displaying a creature which resembled a quartz crystal with legs and claws.

"How are the repairs to the teleportation network proceeding," Metroid Prime asked impatiently, his voice deep and reverberating.

"Slowly," The pirate replied, in a humming-sounding voice, "These viruses have almost complete control of the computers in command of the network, and are holding onto that control with an iron fist."

"Then shut down the network altogether, as I believe is protocol for such a situation," Metroid Prime ordered.

"Understood," The crystalline pirate responded. It began making several chords of pure tones, and produced several colors of lights from within its transparent body; the pirate's native tongue. After a few seconds, the pirate turned to one of its coworkers, and jumped back in surprise.

"Sir, it didn't work!" The pirate shouted, "The jump network is still receiving power!"

"How is that.!?" Metroid Prime tried to ask. He was cut off prematurely.

"Dark Samus, your presence is requested in the lab," A feminine voice called over an intercom. Metroid Prime would have grimaced, if he had a face under his helmet. He had used Samus form to regenerate himself, yes, but he hadn't forsaken his old identity. Yet even the pirates he had so briefly controlled referred to him with that wretched, demeaning name 'Dark Samus', even they had referred to him as a female! He was Metroid Prime, the lord of Phaaze and Phazon; and the Universe saw him as Samus' evil twin.

"Now," The voice continued. _Why should I listen to her!?_ Metroid Prime thought angrily, _I should kill her for treating me this way._ These strongly rebellious thoughts, however, were pushed to the backseat of her mind, as an irresistible force drove his limbs to walk toward the door; he wasn't even able to cause a resistant stumble.


	6. Fist Fight

Samus typed in a final command into the holographic terminal, and the hologram flickered. The window she was in closed automatically, and was replaced by a string of some convoluted math. This window, too, quickly shut down, and a message box quickly popped up in its place, a box which read 'Virus insertion successful.'

Samus turned to the feline pirate, who was still immobile but conscious.

"I'm curious," Samus asked, "I was chosen for this mission because I am immune to Phazon corruption; any one of Alex's crew would die or go insane from the exposure. Why haven't you?"

"First of all, it's called quantazon-bound titanium (III) silicuonate" The pirate replied, "And second of all, Alex knows exactly how to immunize himself; he's just to chicken to do it."

Samus knelt down beside the Raekan.

"Nighty-night," The bounty hunter said. She then shot the pirate, returning him to a state of unconsciousness.

_Well, according to the virus, it's remotely infected computers F, G, and J._ It recommends targeting computer E next COSE stated _And we've got 3 hostiles trying (futilely) to open the door, so be careful on your way out._

As Samus exited the door, COSE immediately scanned the three pirates waiting for her. Right to left, a Raekan, a dinosaur, and a grey-skinned humanoid were highlighted in green, and COSE supplied a comment for each one.

_Raekan (Felicie Sapiens, male): Exceptional Combat skills. Their arboreal nature makes them very agile, and thus the majority of them are wicked martial artists._

_Velociraptor (Velociraptor Sapiens, male): Advanced combat skills. If you've ever watched Jurrasic park, they're like that, but smarter. Even smarter._

_Birik (Homo stolidus, female): Human-level combat skill. The Birik are one of the most boring sapients in our universe – their species name is actually Latin for 'dull'._

_Each pirate is armored with a Singularity-class CAT suit, which, among other things, immunizes them against my stun-beams. You'll have to impart 250 joules onto the suits to deplete the energy field protecting them – this can be done with anything, even hand-to-hand combat (Unless the Raekan is a complete idiot, though, you'll want to use quantazon pulses against him)_

After the half-second COSE needed to transmit that information, Samus threw a 50-joule punch at the Birik, knocking the pirate on her back. The Raekan attempted a roundhouse kick, which Samus nimbly dodged; the sidestep, unfortunately, landed her left arm in the jaws of the Velociraptor. As her own suit energy field dropped from a thousand joules, Samus quickly retaliated by slamming her elbow down onto the raptor's head. The extant dinosaur released its grip, allowing Samus to follow up with a powerful side-kick. Her visor reported that the Velociraptor was vurnerable to direct attack, and Samus fired a stun-pulse at it.

The Raekan landed a punch on the side of Samus' head, and Samus responded by tossing the Birik (Who had just returned to her feet) at him – She missed, but the humanoid had, at least, returned to the floor. Samus pile-drived the Birik, and was then able to stun her.

"Not bad," The Raekan remarked, "Here I thought you fought with missles and 'power beams'."

"Whoever said I don't?" Samus asked. She held her right arm to the pirate, and COSE fired a quantazon pulse at him, an attack which clipped his HP by 100 joules. The Raekan retaliated with a front kick, which Samus almost dodged (Her inability to completely evade the attack cost her ten joules). She fired another pulse at the feline, which he dodged; Samus nailed him with another pulse as he did so.

The pirate side-kicked Samus' chest, dropping her HP by 50 joules, and also knocking her slightly off balance. Before she could recover, he executed a 30-joule side-kick, knocking her to the floor. The pirate lept on Samus, pinning her right arm, and raised his right elpow. Before he could strike, Samus twisted her body, throwing him off and letting herself getting to her feet. Before the Raekan returned to his, she kicked him, and shot one last time. COSE fired a stun-pulse at the feline, and his target went limp.

_140 joules. Not bad, I guess_, COSE thought, _You can heal at the computer terminal behind you – and any terminal connected to a hacked computer, for that matter (I should probably mark those on your map). Don't dawdle, there's a group of armored pirates making their way toward us. The security systems controlled by the virus are slowing them down, but they'll be here in 5 minutes. No pressure._

Samus turned around to the door behind her, shot the access panel, and entered the station. Sensing her presence, the virus brought up four rectangular button on the green holographic screen: 'Heal', 'Download upgrades (1)', 'Access computer' and 'Accept'. Samus pressed the heal and download upgrade buttons, and hit 'accept.' A quantazon snake then crawled out of the computer, and wrapped itself around Samus' suit. Samus watched as her HP steadily crawled back up to 1000, and a status bar closed to 100%. Once said status bar reached 100% completion, the quantazon ribbon dissapeared, and her visor reported 'Energy replentishment complete. Armorsuit upgrade aquired: Suit Virus – Infects other CAT suits to steal energy.

"Ooh. I like that," Samus said, "Well, to the transporter."

* * *

**Once again, I've been lax in posting - hardly to the extent of the last interval, but still a large enough gap.**

**Trying to spur conversation; what should COSE's role be in this little story. Is there anything you think COSE could contribute that hasn't been exploited yet? Is there something he's already done that isn't realistic.**

**Furthermore, what do you think of Samus in hand-to-hand combat? Would you like to see more of her breaking out martial arts, or should I stick to the long-range attacks that have made her famous?**


	7. Missiles

_That's odd_ COSE thought _There should be a jump port just 25 meters from an appropriate terminal. Where's the little yellow light for it?_

Standing in the spherical teleport station, Samus noticed that there were significantly fewer yellow dots on the control panel.

_My guess; the pirates took them out manually. They'ret a hell of a lot more valuable to me than they are to them_ Samus replied _Even if they could somehow kill our virus, fewer stations means they just have to walk further, while I still have to fight my way through security._

_Possibly_ COSE said _Whatever the reason, we'll still need a new route. Let's see…_

COSE brought up the area map, and highlighted all available jump ports and computer E-connected terminals. The wrist-worn cyborg computer traced all possible paths, and then closed all but the shortest. He then closed the map, and highlighted the needed dot on the control panel.

Samus touched the dot, and was enveloped in a yellow sphere. Said sphere rapidly contracted into a single point, taking Samus with it. A similar sphere expanded in the jump port Samus previously specified, and contracted as its predessessor; leaving Samus in its place.

Samus tapped the tri-sectioned door of the jump port, and received the rather unpleasant surprise of two ceiling-mounted turrets waiting for her. Samus quickly leapt behind the curved wall of the jump port; but not before taking three 30-joule hits.

_Kind of obvious, reall__y. I'm the only one that can use the… jump ports, you called them?- _Samus thought _So, any stats on them?_

COSE superimposed the image of one of the turrets – a footbal-shaped device mounted on two rods – onto Samus' visor, and displayed a series of technical schematics.

_These appear similar to Shalber-class turrets. They've got this quantazon buffer… that's actually a really good idea; I'll have to implement that_ COSE replied _Anyways, the two mounting rods are the weakest parts. Two Relative torpedoes each there should fry 'em._

Armed with a game plan, Samus leapt back into range of the turrets. She quickly fired four blue pulses, which hit the guns at the mounting rods. As COSE had predicted, they became incapacitated, and fell to the floor.

_I'm done with my modifications_ COSE stated _Please, place your hand on one of the turrets-_

Samus did as requested, and five small, yellow sphere were absorbed into her suit. Her visor reported "Missles (5) aquired".

_That's five pre-fabricated, 200-joule quantazon devices _COSE reported _Alex is already re-writing the computer visrus to refill your missles. Like the matter-based variety you've been using, you can only hold so many – five, right now – you'll probably be able to increase your capacity at any turret maintanence hatch._

"Three Raekans? Come on," Samus groaned. As one could probably infer, Samus had been confronted with a trio of the Feliciae Sapiens species. To further hamper her progress, the hallway had been cut off by force-fields.

"Shut up," One of the Raekans, who was wearing a larger suit, replied, "We had to walk through half a kilometer of our own security systems to get to you."

_And thy have battle scars to prove it. That guy's HP has been cut in half-_ COSE reported _Oh, and as you can probably guess, her suit isn't Singularity class – its Gamma class. 750 HP (right now, down to 504, go virus!) external muscle enhancements, and has Relative Cannons. I'd save her for last._

Samus decided to test out her missiles, and loosed one at the weakest of the pirates. She hit her mark, knocking the feline humanoid back several feet, much to the his, his comrades, Samus', and COSE's awe. Samus then stunned the pirate, and absorbed 12 joules of health from his suit.

The second Raekan was quick to get out of Samus' way when he was targeted; Samus had fully expected this, and clipped him with two uncharged quantazon beams. The female, Gamma-class-suited Raekan front-kicked Samus, knocking her off-balance – but she was, regardless, able to nail her attacker's chest with a second missile. Samus then successfully dodged a kick launched by the remaining male Raekan; this enabled her to grab his foot and slam him into his comrade. He was then stunned.

Samus fired a charged power beam at the Raekan woman, who had almost regained her footing. This slowed her down little – the feline pirate swiftly pounced at Samus, who dodged by entering her morph ball. The attacker recovered quickly, and tried to pounce Samus again; this was dodged by a simple roll. Samus quickly got back to her feet, and fired a third missile. The quantazon device disabled the suit's protective energy field, and the pirate was stunned.

With all three attackers incapacitated, Samus fired a Relative Torpedo at the force-field in the hallway. The force-field disengaged, allowing Samus to step into a conveniently-placed computer F-connected terminal, allowing her to replenish her health and missiles.


	8. Challenge

_There's someone in there_, COSE reported, once Samus had approached the doorway to a Computer F-connected terminal, _It's a Velociraptor, in a Gamma-class suit. Prepare for a challenge._

_If I wasn't always prepared for a challenge,_ I wouldn't be the best, Samus remarked, _Open the door, COSE._

COSE fired a quantazon device at the door panel, quickly overriding the lock and opening the door.

"You dispatched those Raekans quickly," A harsh voice called from within the control room. As Samus had completely passed the doorway, she saw the Velociraptor COSE had warned her about, sitting with his back turned to her in a bulky, blue suit.

"The virus you implanted in our computer network is similarly impressive – though you yourself cannot directly take credit for it," The Velociraptor continued, "Its effects on our security have been quite troublesome. Yet, I am here."

Samus took aim, and fired a quantazon missile at the reptile's head. To her surprise, the dinosaur leapt out of his chair, narrowly dodging the device.

_He's not as tired as the Raekans,_ COSE remarked, _Oh, this is going to be fun._

The Velociraptor, apparently feeling chivalrous, bowed, and then launched himself at Samus. He was met with Samus' foot; this caused some damage to his suit's protective field, but he swerved to absorbed most of the blow. The maneuver also granted the Velociraptor the opportunity to swing at Samus' remaining planted foot with his tail, knocking her off balance. Samus, rather than hitting the floor, entered her morph ball mode, and as the Velociraptor tried to strike again, she had the maneuverability necessary to evade. The dinosaur recovered from the failed attack by spinning around, and his tail imparted 50 joules of damage.

Samus exited her morph ball form, and fired a missile at the Velociraptor. Unlike the first, this hit its mark. Samus followed up by kicking her foe, knocking him back a few feet. The reptile landed securely, though, and quickly regained his footing.

The Velociraptor remained standing for a few seconds, but then charged Samus again. He didn't leave himself open to a counterstrike this time, allowing the two to engage in hand-to-hand combat. This remained for a few seconds, until the raptor managed to chomp down on Samus' arm.

As her HP began to fall, a window in Samus' visor appeared, reading 'Engaging electric discharge deterrent'. The raptor began to convulse, and loosened his grip on Samus' arm. He remained stunned long enough for Samus to fire another missile.

The Velociraptor recovered swiftly, and began to attack again. Samus pushed him back with an impressive backflip-kick, and followed up with three uncharged power beams.

Before Samus landed the raptor fired a yellow beam at Samus. She found herself immobilized, as the dinosaur approached.

_Struggle,_ COSE recommended, _Their tractor beams are weakened by stress._

Samus focused intently on breaking free of the restrictive beam – and sure enough, it disengaged just before the Velociraptor reached her. She took aim, and fired a quantazon missile at point-blank range. The Velociraptor, once again, was thrown back several feet. Samus then barraged him with several power beams while waiting for him to recover.

The Velociraptor retaliated with a Relative Torpedo, which Samus rolled left to dodge. The raptor took the opportunity to draw close once again, and resumed hand-to-hand combat. The her opponent possessed an impressive degree of skill, it soon became clear the Samus was superior; she quickly gained the upper hand, and rendered the Velociraptor vulnerable to a final quantazon missile. The Gamma-class suit finally lost its ability to resist quantazon-based attacks, and Samus stunned the sapient beast. The virus planted in his suit gave her a return of 50 joules.

_You'll find the tractor beam device on the Velociraptor's left arm_, COSE stated,_ As we understand, the Chozo technology in your suit will allow you to take it and use it yourself. You may find it useful._

Samus lifted the unconscious Velociraptor's arm, and removed a rectangular panel from the black suit. She placed it on her own left arm, and the suit automatically integrated the component into itself.

With the battle completed and the spoils collected, Samus began the task of infecting computer F of the pirate base.


End file.
